Minisink Middle School History

Middle School

Minisink Valley Middle School is located on Route 6 in Slate Hill, New York, in western Orange County. Established in 1991, our school currently has approximately 1,050 students in grades six through eight. There are about 4,400 students in our entire district, which with our middle school, includes two elementary schools, an intermediate school, and the high school.

This area has changed a lot in the past 20 years, from just being basically farm land to a mix of farming, residential and business.

Many people wonder where the name Minisink came from. Around 1000 B.C. native Americans of the Lenape (pronounced as if spelled "lun-NAH-pay" -Delaware Nation) nation roamed this area. The Lenape Nation had three tribes. One of the tribes was the 'Minsis'. 'Minsis' means wolf or fierce protector. There were six sub tribes and one of them was the Minisink Tribe.